#junin community

[sitting-on-me-bum]

A new species of rocket frog (Ectopoglossus sp nov) spotted at the Velo de Novia waterfall, in the Junin community, Imbabura province, Ecuador. Two frog species are at the centre of a fight to save an Ecuadorean forest from destruction by mining

Photograph: Cristina Vega Rhor/AFP/Getty Images

[thehistorianrants]

Context: This ask was sent to me on my original account (crisalidaseason) back in May/June. It was related to a fanfic I wrote inspired by a myth of my homeland. On this post I will go into more detail about this being. Beware the warnings!!

Content warnings: Sexism, neglect, mentions of SA (not detailed, but if it triggers you please don't read this), impregnation, pregnancy.

What is the Rose-colored porpoise?

Category: History

First things first, this is a rose-colored porpoise:

It's a type of river dolphin that inhabits the Amazon and Solimões rivers. It's known for being the largest river dolphin, they can reach almost 2,5 meters (this is about 8,4 feet for the people who still use the arcaic imperial system).

The legend says: It is said that this animal turns into a beautiful and charming man at night and seduces any woman he wants. He gets them pregnant and disappears into the river by morning.

This is the popular image associated with the man. He has copper skin and uses a hat and button up shirt.

This is a picture of "Manaus", from the TV show Insvisible City (Cidade Invisível in portuguese), It is not the best picture to represent this man (since this show was not written by actual people from the region therefore he lacks the copper skin) but it's good enough.

The real story: Nobody knows for sure the time this legend surfaced, but the tale is at least 300 years old (maybe even more). This story was passed through oral tradition in the Amazonian communities, the purpose was to justify a scandalous pregnancy. It was mostly to keep the men without punishment for impregnating young women and also give the poor girl some "dignity" (not really).

The popularity of this legend, though, is unmatched! Every June, the northen parts of Brazil have the Junine festivals, in which we celebrate the harvest and also is associated with some saints from the catholic religion (colonization doing its shit). When these festivals happen, we have lots of dances and presentations, it's a big cultural event. One of those events they tell the story of the rose-colored porpoise/man. Here is an example: (2) Dança e Inclusão - Primeira Apresentação no Festival Parafolclórico Inclusivo: "Olho de Boto". - YouTube

Some interesting facts are:

People say that if you see a man in a hat and button up shirt at a party - and you have doubts about his "humanity' - you have to take of his hat. If it's the actual creature, he will run away from the party right back to the river.

It is also said he sometimes does not transform completely into a man and you can identify this by touching his back (you might feel his dorsal fin).

[teacup-crow]

I Wanted to Love You

Zombies Make 08/08/20, round four! Thanks again @crownleys and @puptart for a really fun day! This one is based (uh very vaguely) on the song Maybe We’re Meant to Be Alone by Bad Suns. Also I had Hadestown stuck in my head so make of that what you will.

Jody looks after an unwell Tom, early season 6ish.

CW: a bad case of the flu – people might understandably not want to read about it under current circumstances! Also delusions and unconsciousness, references to past torture, lack of self-worth. (But it’s sweet and romantic I swear!)

He gasps for breath, fighting with the blanket that is strangling and suffocating him, the hands around his neck squeezing tighter and tighter and tighter.

“Tom?”

Cold sweat. Hot sweat. Everything is shuddering and blacking in and out of reality. His lungs are full of fluid – have they dunked his head in the trough again? Try not to panic, then, Colonel De Luca. Don’t breathe through your nose, no matter what. Imagine you’re elsewhere. Detach your brain from the situation. They’re not going to let you drown, after all. You’re too valuable. Don’t give them what they want. Break your own mind before you give them anything. Break, break, break, break.

“Tom!”

They don’t normally use his name – to them, he’s just “the English spy, the English dog”. Monikers which, he supposes, are accurate enough. It’s a woman’s voice, just above the surface. Are they holding her, too? Are they hurting her?! He’ll distract them, if so. If they’d pull his head out, and he could get a look…

“Tom!”

Everything spins, and shifts again, and she’s hanging above him, a cooling palm on his forehead. He’s lying on a pallet, the smell of his own sweat and urine diminished, replaced by the lavender soap of her hair. How did she get him out? Why are those eyes so familiar, and so frightened? Did he dream of her, coming to save him? Is she Orpheus, with his lyre, come to take Eurydice from the underworld? But he looked back. Orpheus looked back, and lost her. The woman is going to look back-

“Tom, do you know where you are?”

“Don’t stop looking at me! Don’t go away! Don’t! Please!”

“Jesus, you’re burning up.” The woman backs away, not taking her eyes off him once. “Can someone get Maxine in here, please? Urgently!”

“Don’t… don’t look away. If you look away, I’ll go back.”

“I’m not looking away, and you’re not going anywhere. Never again, okay?”

His eyes are dull with a lack of recognition, but he gives her the sweetest smile. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

***

“It’s just another case of Junin-2,” Maxine confirms from behind her face mask. “It’s a particularly virulent flu, but he should be fine with a few days of rest, and most of Abel is inoculated.”

“It’s hard enough to make him rest as it is!” Jody whispers back, a hint of desperation in her voice. “He never sleeps!”

Sure enough, Tom is mumbling his way through a myth, dropping in and out of what they assume is Greek. He sits bolt upright. “Any other mortal would have died! But not Orpheus!” He follows up with a round of coughing: the effort apparently exhausts him, and he collapses into the pillows again.

“I’ve not seen him hallucinating this badly in years,” she continues, a little shaken by the fit. “Isn’t there anything we can give him?”

“The Ministry soldiers cleared us out of medical supplies long before their retreat. Redirected them to London, and more “loyal” communities. Kefilwe had to treat people with… I think you’d call it ‘a lick and a promise’? Anyway, our supplies are thin. If he’d been vaccinated, but…”

“Getting a needle in him is a nightmare on its own, I know. I don’t want to leave him, Max, but I’ve got so much to do. If Janine were here-“

“Janine?” Tom’s voice from the bed is frail, but clear. The women turn back to him. “You know Jenny?”

Jody sits back down on the side of the bed, stroking his head again. “Yes. She’s your sister. Do you… do you know who I am?”

“You pulled me out of the underworld. Or maybe that was somebody else. I’m… I’m…”

“I’m Jody, Tom. Jody. I’m your partner.”

“On the mission? What’s your rank?”

She looks up at Maxine in desperation. She shakes her head. “He’ll be okay in a few days. I’ll sort someone to run the township. Try and get him to drink some water.”

Jody’s eyes say water, Maxine? Are you fucking kidding me?! But she turns back to him instead. “No. We’re together. You and me.”

“Not true,” he laughs. “You’re too pretty. Out of my league.”

His lips are warm, and as rough as sandpaper as she plants a kiss on them. “There you go. I just proved it.”

“Oh.”

***

There are stars in her hair, moving and shifting. Are they going to grant him wishes? No, wishing on stars is a stupid game for little children. That’s what Jenny said angrily, catching him at it, the night they arrived at General Bakari’s house. I wish I wish I wish mother and father would come back. He didn’t try again.

Deep inside, he feels like he knows this woman, that her honeyed words are true, that he is in a beautiful future with somebody’s hand in his. It’s feeling of longing he cannot put into words, but his head knows better. He’s still in a filthy cell, still weighted in chains. Maybe they went too far, knocked him sideways in the temple one too many times, but if it’s a dream, it’s a lovely one. It must be a dream – everything is in a haze of warmth, fuzzy through gauze.

“I wish you were real, Jody,” he says, after a new bout of coughing has laid him immobile. “That would be nice.”

“I am real, Tom,” she says, her voice a little stricken. She’s opened the windows, and he realises then that he can hear the patter of rain, smell the unmistakeable scent of it. How sick he used to get of English rain, when he first got there. How much he misses it now.

“I’m real, and you escaped years ago. They’re all dead, all your captors, every last one. You’re back in Britain. Jenny’s here. I’m here. You’re somewhere safe, where nobody will ever get to you. And I’m not going anywhere. You’re just unwell. It’s just the flu.”

“My… throat does hurt.”

“Exactly. Sip some water, and you’ll feel better, okay?”

He takes the cup in shaking hands, but manages, and hands it back with a pensive look on his face.

“I must be difficult.”

“What?”

“I must be difficult to be with. I’m probably riddled with trauma, if what you say is true. I must be difficult to love.”

She traces his face with his fingers, sighing a little in relief to find it cooler than last time. He savours every touch. It’s been so long, in his mind, since anyone did this. “Not for me. I wanted to love you. I chose to. I’ve never wanted that before.”

“You still do?”

“Of course I do. Now take a nap, and I promise I won’t go anywhere. When you open your eyes, I’ll be waiting, right here.”

He closes his eyes. “I always thought that I’d be alone. But partner. I think I like it. I like it…”

If he just keeps hold of her hand, maybe he’ll stay in the land of the living for good.

[transtranscendence]

Soledad Rojas Paúcar (”Shisha”) was a hard worker who was integrated into her community and well-liked. She used to sell mazamorras and chicha at local fairs and participated in local festivities as a tunantera (a typical dance in the region). During the pandemic, she had rented her premises to sell groceries.

Soledad is one of those remembered in "Resistiendo por Justicia" by Proyecto Cancionar ("The Song Project").

November 12, 2020, in El Tambo, Huancayo, Junin, Peru

We will not be silenced. We must fight back against transphobia. For Soledad.

[skippyv20]

Wow!  Thank you😁❤️❤️❤️❤️

Stairs of China heaven gate Tianmen Shan

China Heaven Gate in Hunan province is named after an unbelievable cave natural arch eroded through the karst syncline. The Heaven’s Gate, as the arch is called, is situated about 8 kilometers south of the city of Zhangjiajie. The Gate is accessed from Zhangjiajie by what may be the world’s longest passenger cableway at a length of 7.5 kilometers. Than it is followed by a bus ride along an 11 kilometers long winding road with 99 bends. That is called the “Heaven-Linking Avenue” that reaches the top of the mountain.

The purpose of these huts is contested in Chinese legend. Looking for to serve either as a place of rest and worship or to relax looking out over the world. This wonderful site, China Heaven Gate is typically shadowed by blazing sunlight or mystical fog. From this point, a set of stairs with exactly 999 steps take visitor’s right underneath the 130-meters tall and 57-meters wide arch.

Tianmen Shan may be distinctive among the world’s great arches in that its formation is recorded in history. Documents from China’s “Three Kingdoms” period report that the full opening formed in one cataclysmic event when the back of a giant cave collapsed in 263 AD. Which in result, the name of the mountain was changed from Songliang Shan to Tianmen Shan. 

In recent times Tianmen Shan has become a target for stunt fliers. As the location adjacent to the Zhangjiajie airport as well as its large opening. Acrobatic flying teams have flown through the opening. Tianmen Shan has a span of about 55 meters and a height of about 130 meters.

            Railway photos 

56 Year old French photographer Jean Marc Frybourg went to great lengths to capture these unbelievable pictures of some of South America’s most scenic rail routes in Peru and Chile. 

The photos feature trains mainly servicing mines as they weave through incredible landscapes which are made accessible due to just as impressive engineering feats that make the viewer wonder how on earth they got a track there in the first place. You can well see in one shot, two trains are flawlessly aligned on a mountain side, which was taken with the cooperation of the railway company while another is transporting tanks of sulphuric.

This train headed for the Cerro de Pasco copper mine passes through lagunas near the Chinchaycocha Lake at Junin in Peru

Another angle on the Ferronor train heading down the grade from the Potrerillos copper smelter with sulfuric acid tanks

The famous Puente Infiernillo is captured from above on the on the Ferrocar near San Mateo, Peru

A Ferronor train with a load of sulfuric acid tanks works its way down from the Potrerillos plant going toward Llanta and Diego de Almagro in Chile

Avila: Europe most impressive wall city

In central Spain, there’s an ancient city Avila located in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon almost 100 km to the west of Madrid. It is believed and considered one of finest walled city in Europe, built on the flat summit of a rocky outcrop, actually rises rapidly in the middle of a vast treeless plain strewn with immense grey boulders and surrounded by lofty mountains. In 1985, The Old Town of Avila was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site. Therefore, Ávila has been called the “finest medieval remnant in Spain” and is a noteworthy tourist center.

The wall of Avila is an inspiring 2.5 km barrier of stone and granite that surrounds the city’s almost rectangular layout. The 2,500 meter long city wall is completely intact. The walls are up to 10 feet thick and 40 feet high, and topped by a continuous battlement rampart-walk and parapet with merlons and cernels. Nowadays it is possible to walk upon the walls for approximately half their circumference, however at night the whole circumference of the wall is magnificently lit up by yellow-orange halogen lights, making it “the largest fully illuminated monument in the world.“

The history reveals us, that Avila was once part of the Roman Lusitania, before falling to the Arab and Berber invaders in 714 CE. Hence, for the next three and a half centuries the northern Iberian Christian kingdoms tried frequently to seize control of the city, but it was King Alfonso VI of León and Castile, who sooner or later managed to conquer the Muslims in 1088 ADE. The King instantly started building a great stone wall around Avila to defend his latest conquest from further attacks. Moreover, the task was well supervised by his brother-in-law, “Raymond of Burgundy”, who was a legendary figure himself. Due to its early legal protection, the city of Ávila maintains the main features of authenticity in terms of form, design, location, and setting.

Bulging out from the walls are eighty-eight semi-circular defensive towers, placed at uniform intervals. The walls are punctured by 8 or 9 entrance gates, but originally, there was a moat and a barbican outside the walls, but they no longer exist. The substantial fortification was finished in less than a decade. Besides, The area surrounded by the walls is now designated the Old Town, and covers all of the city’s historic landmarks including the Gothic cathedral, the Convent of Santo Tomás, containing the tombs of Tomás de Torquemada, which were the first grand inquisitor of Spain, and of Don Juan, the only son of Ferdinand and Isabella, and several Romanesque churches

[newvernacularmag]

Alto Anapati Preschool The Alto Anapati preschool project is located in a Nomatsigenga native community in the central jungle of Peru, and generates access to education for more than 50 children, and community space for 86 families. The proposal of the project took on an ethnographic approach, where the architect surveyed the teaching dynamics in the community. This resulted in a program that revolved around outdoor learning spaces and local customs. The majority of materials used in the design are locally sourced and produced, including wood, clay bricks, and river stones. This project has become the heart and soul of the community, and is an important aspect in preserving the Nomatsigengea knowledge and territory. Project year : 2021 #architect : @semillasperu #photographer : @eleazarcuadros , Diego Breit #newvernacular #vernacularinspired #design #traditionalarchitecture #architecture #perú #latinamerica #preschool #educationalarchitecture #outdoorlearning #locallysourced #communityarchitecture #preservation (at Alto Anapatí, Junin, Peru) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZzT9dEF0Ro/?utm_medium=tumblr

[tangledwing]

A parrot perches on a clothesline in Potsoteni, an Ashaninka indigenous community area in Peru’s Junin region

Photograph: Rodrigo Abd/AP

[redwitchdiaries]

Hi and hello!

I’m Tsuu, and what you’re seeing here is the beginning of my walk into shadow work. I’m also interested in Celtic Paganism, and have been a long practicing demonolator, so this might end up as quite a shit show, if I’m being honest with myself. Which is probably a good first step, being honest with myself. I’m embarking on this journey with my girlfriend, Kiko, who might make a blog too? It’s been a wild night and I’m not 100% sure on that. So. We’ll start with a bit of an ‘About Me.’

Hi, hello, I am Tsuu, and I’m a 27 year old demonolator. I’m polyamourous, bi romantic, and asexual. Kiko is the newest member of our poly group. There are two others, those being junin and Seraph. I am married to junin, and Kiko is married to someone NOT in the poly commune, whom she has two children with.

I enjoy reading, writing, drawing, playing games, watching anime, cooking, and demons. The primary entity I work with is Belial, whom I love so very dearly.

Most of the magic I do are spells I’ve specifically constructed for my own purposes. I might, maybe, post some of them here? Really only if Kiko wants access to them for whatever reason. I’m not so much looking to make friends as to gather, share, and learn information, as well as begin trying to heal and help heal Kiko from our different pasts.

[notttt-che]

As promised! Here is the newest track. I wasn’t going to show it but it reminds me a lot of my dear froggos that I will be drawing very soon so!

I’m not posting the original version of this yet because after getting this one I felt the original needs some little checks(It was the very first track I commissioned so I wasn’t so sure of what I was aiming I guess) You may end up hearing it in the newer demo tho, since I don’t think I will be commissioning new music until next year.

This time I don’t feel that ashamed of the name haha. Here in Peru, processions are very common, but I have a little background on this:

My dad was part of a community who always traveled during May to Tarma(Junin, this is inside the country btw) to the patronal festivity of El Señor de Muruhuay. As a child, I traveled several times there and lived all the incredible chaos of these festivities but what I recalled most is the procession(You know, they have an altar of the saint and the devotes carries it on their shoulders, other devotes follows along with a band) The music, the smoke(Sahumerio) the dizziness because of the height and the cold makes the experience even greater. Something I could never forget! I asked the composer if this track, in particular, could have some sort of melody of the music played in a procession. I thought it would be really cool to have these imposing feel in a battle theme.

**This is one variation of the battle theme. The main one is supposed to be less quick and chaotic.

[viajerashaninka]

Staring at the moon, breathing deeply and make a wish 😍😃🌹🌷🌕 Good start to the week Native community San Miguel Centro Marankiari Visit us and connect with nature #Parinisatsi . . . . . . . . #ashaninka #photooftheday #nature #amazonie #photgraphie #tourisme #travelphotography #nicenights #adventures #travel #instatravel #culture #ashaninkas #indigenouswomen #spa #relax #yoga #pictures #traditionaltattoo #tradition #arawak #amazonie #jungle #perutravellers (en Perené, Junin, Peru) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2LMr_snZkt/?igshid=ue9f43funtnb

[zrtranscripts]

Virtual Race, Fall 2016 (Training Mission #1)

if self == Employee: print shirt()

SAM YAO: [laughs] Barbed wire, electrified fence, spiked wall, and gun turrets. That is a lot of security for a T-shirt factory. What are they printing here, limited edition Articuno shirts? … Janine? That’s a rare Pokemon. I’m saying they must have been making something valuable here.

JANINE DE LUCA: I understood your reference, Mr. Yao. I simply chose not to reply to it. I’m planning our strategy for entering the building.

MAXINE MYERS: Yeah, this is serious. We have three weeks now until Junin 2 season. I don’t want to have to be the one to say this, but the Junin 2 hemorrhagic fever is deadly. Just because we have to deal with zombies now doesn’t mean other diseases have gone away. With no healthcare available, an ordinary flu could kill. And Junin 2 is no ordinary flu. The government only held it at bay last year with the help of Xia-Hifa.

SAM YAO: Yeah, I remember. Bulletins on the news all the time about Junin 2 safeguards, and “always take your flu mask,” and stuff. But well, everything was fine last year. Just a few isolated cases.

MAXINE MYERS: We warded it off. Mass mosquito spraying, rapid isolation, and treatment of infected people. But it’s going to come back, zombie apocalypse or not. We know Xia-Hifa were holding their vaccine to ransom for tax credits from the government, and we need it. So I got to ask, Janine: isn’t there a more direct way to get hold of the vaccine than T-shirts?

JANINE DE LUCA: Unfortunately not, Doctor. Six teams have tried to get into Xia-Hifa Biologics to retrieve the vaccine. Six teams have failed. But each of them has given us valuable intelligence. We know that one of our team members must pose as a new employee with Xia-Hifa in order to pass through the security systems.

SAM YAO: Yeah, so that’s you, Runner Five. Your body and biometrics most closely matched an employee we found on their new hires database. We think we can fudge it. But you need one of their special biometric T-shirts. So uh, yeah. That’s why all the security outside the factory.

MAXINE MYERS: Xia-Hifa Biologics protected themselves well. Even now their employees are dead, their protective measures are still working. Every bit of their system was automated. It just keeps going even though the people are dead.

JANINE DE LUCA: We have a window in the security camera sweeps in ten, nine…

MAXINE MYERS: So we’re running for the electrified fence?

JANINE DE LUCA: Which I will deactivate.

SAM YAO: And then climbing the wall, and then just running.

JANINE DE LUCA: Two, one, go. Now! Go!

[fence rattles]

SAM YAO: Okay, okay. Everyone’s inside the perimeter fence, and we haven’t set off the alarms. And the previous team has left the building’s door open, so that’s good news.

JANINE DE LUCA: We have to keep watching out for those alarms, Mr. Yao. Xia-Hifa was totally independent as to power. All buildings related to their operations use solar, wind, and other renewable sources. It’s one of the many challenges relating to this extraction.

SAM YAO: The other being that their defense systems are still working?

JANINE DE LUCA: We suspect so, yes. The automatic defense system has been partially corrupted. It’s not accepting its fail-safe override codes. Previous teams have sent us the message that you must be recognized as a Xia-Hifa employee to be allowed to access the lower levels of the building. As well as that puzzling last message about the importance of bringing a laser targeter. 

Believe me, Runner Five, if there were any way to retrieve that vaccine that did not involve putting you on the employee roll, I would have found it. We are all here to do our duty.

MAXINE MYERS: Okay, so, what’s the plan?

JANINE DE LUCA: Runner Five, you will enter the building through the main door and follow the signs to Xia-Hifa employee center. The system should recognize you as a new employee. The rest of us will enter through the side door and take up positions as workers in this facility. Mr. Yao, you will be at the far end of the building on the T-shirt electronics. Dr. Myers, you will be on the upper gantry keeping watch. I will be scouting the building for trouble. Runner Five, you will be running. We will communicate via headset. If all goes according to plan, we should be able to issue you with your regulation T-shirt.

SAM YAO: And if it doesn’t go to plan?

JANINE DE LUCA: It will go to plan. Runner Five? Main entrance, now. Run!

[soothing music plays]

COMPUTER: Welcome, new employee, to Xia-Hifa Biologics, “winning the human race.” We’re so glad you’ve joined the team, ERROR: EMPLOYEE NAME NOT FOUND. Every employee at Xia-Hifa is an individual. We are here to assess your unique gifts and push you to attain your highest possibility. For that reason, please follow the path lined with blue lights as quickly as possible. This will help us assess your energy and commitment. Go!

SAM YAO: I’ve heard about this test, Runner Five. They want to see that you’re an energized employee. You have to move as fast as you can. Now, run!

[computer whirs and beeps]

COMPUTER: Your biometric scan is complete, ERROR: EMPLOYEE NAME NOT FOUND. Well done! Your enthusiasm and energy scores are among the highest recorded. We’re intrigued by you.

SAM YAO: All right! All right, that’s good. Great, okay. Uh, Janine, what next?

JANINE DE LUCA: Next, the computer will tell Runner Five to -

COMPUTER: Please wait patiently while we analyze your data.

[zombies groan]

SAM YAO: Uh, did everyone else hear zombie noises just then? I’m by the T-shirt printing machine. I can’t see anything.

JANINE DE LUCA: Are you sure you didn’t imagine it, Mr. Yao?

MAXINE MYERS: Uh, no. I’m on the upper gantry, and uh, I think this T-shirt factory wasn’t just used by Xia-Hifa.

JANINE DE LUCA: That’s right. They also did some commercial printing in a separate area of the building.

MAXINE MYERS: Wedding T-shirts? Hen nights? Maybe they did tours when you’d come and see your T-shirt being printed.

JANINE DE LUCA: Possibly?

MAXINE MYERS: Runner Five, there are seventeen zombies breaking through the partition wall. They must have been trying for a while, but they’ve got in now. I think they were, uh – yup. Yup. I’ve got it on my binoculars. Um, they were all on “Sandeep’s hen party, last chance to go wild.”

SAM YAO: Wow. That was painfully accurate.

JANINE DE LUCA: Dr. Myers, help me track the location of the zombies and I will dispatch them.

COMPUTER: Please wait patiently while we analyze your data.

[door bursts open, zombies growl]

SAM YAO: Now, I’m just going to suggest, Runner Five, that we try a new strategy. Don’t wait patiently. The employee orientation center is along that path lined by red lights. Just go there. Run!

[zombies growl]

SAM YAO: Um, Janine? Janine, come in.

JANINE DE LUCA: Mr. Yao, there seem to be more of these zombies than anticipated.

MAXINE MYERS: Janine just got one with a… is that a stapler? Did you kill a zom with a stapler, Janine?

JANINE DE LUCA: A professional grade stapler, not a desk stapler.

MAXINE MYERS: Wow, who’s hen night was this? That one looks like she was a pro wrestler in her pre-apocalypse life. Look at those muscles in her shoulders, wow!

SAM YAO: Maxine, are you eyeing up the zombies?

MAXINE MYERS: I uh, have varied tastes, Sam. But yeah, I’m… but only if she weren’t dead, which she is. It’s been a while, Sam.

JANINE DE LUCA: Mr. Yao, are you ready to activate the T-shirt manufacture? Runner Five is about to pass Point Q on the plan.

SAM YAO: Ready!

COMPUTER: Welcome, new employee. We will now create your special wardrobe, to be worn around Xia-Hifa at all times. Your supervisor will enter your details into the system now.

JANINE DE LUCA: Mr. Yao, that’s you. Press the button to begin the process.

[alarm sounds]

COMPUTER: Unauthorized entry in wardrobe manufacture process.

SAM YAO: Oh God! Janine, I think one of Sandeep’s hen party has got herself wedged in the machine. She looks like she fell over on some sprayed whipped cream. I’ve got to get her out of there.

JANINE DE LUCA: Runner Five, go and help him. I’ll deal with the zombies.

MAXINE MYERS: Be quick. The zombies are being attracted by that siren.

[party poppers pop, zombies growl, glass shatters]

SAM YAO: Wow! That’s a good one, Five. Thank goodness they were carrying all those bottles of champagne. And another headshot! I can’t believe that one’s still letting off its party poppers. Is it possible for a zombie to be pissed? Like, if it was pissed when it died?

COMPUTER: New employee, you have only 216 seconds to complete employee registration or your biometric measurements will be voided.

SAM YAO: Oh, crap. Five, we’ve dealt with these zoms now. You need to be in position over there in that area lit up with green lights when they deliver the T-shirt. Go, quickly! I’ll sort it out at this end. Run!

[machine creaks]

JANINE DE LUCA: What’s that sound, Mr. Yao?

SAM YAO: Um, I think maybe we didn’t get all the zombie bits out of the machine. It’s sort of uh, smoking.

[bell rings]

COMPUTER: T-shirt printing complete, RUNNER FIVE.

MAXINE MYERS: You gave the machine the name “Runner Five”?

SAM YAO: I panicked!

COMPUTER: Welcome to Xia-Hifa. This shirt is biometrically coded to you alone. Unauthorized wearers will face defensive measures.

MAXINE MYERS: Defensive measures?

COMPUTER: Your speed and agility in completing your orientation have been noted. You have qualified for a further round of testing. ANNIE can’t wait to meet you!

[fire alarm sounds]

SAM YAO: That sounds sinister.

COMPUTER: Fire detected. Automatic lockdown of the building in 500 seconds.

JANINE DE LUCA: We need to get out of here now. Everyone to the rendezvous point. I hope you understand what this means: we’ve destroyed that T-shirt printing machine. If we don’t get into Xia-Hifa and pick up the vaccine for Junin 2, no one else will be able to, and the virus will emerge again, and then humanity really will be sunk. We’re the last hope.

[basurabrando]

Dear Tumblr Friends: Please Help My Country

Official Note from Peruvian Red Cross:   Many cities in Peru have been devasted by heavy rains and flooding. Thousands of communities, schools, roads, bridges, and land crops have been destroyed. The Peruvian Red Cross continues to work very hard by providing emergency medical attendance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction services.You can contribute to this effort by donating to the Red Cross in order to support our emergency crew, and give hope to the victims. Your contribution will be very much appreciated. United in brotherhood for Perú! Dear Tumblr Friends,

Please. If you can donate anything helps. People in my home country have lost their homes due to the floods. Bridges that connect communities to main roads which allow for business, for food to come in have collapsed. There are people who now have nothing. Crops, people’s livelihoods, a lot of it is gone.You are reading this and Peru might seem like a far away place to you, from your computer screen, but right now there are people who have now lost everything. If you can’t afford to donate anything then reblog. Spread the word. Anything you can give makes a difference. Please donate. Please help my country. Here’s the Donation Link: http://bit.ly/2nDsxwl And a few articles about what is happening from the main Peruvian Nespaper (In Spanish) Huaico In Trujillo Reaches the Center of the City: http://elcomercio.pe/sociedad/la-libertad/trujillo-nuevo-huaico-llega-hasta-centro-ciudad-noticia-1977132?ref=flujo_tags_514101&ft=nota_8&e=titulo

Search for disappeared family by Huaico continues in Junin: http://elcomercio.pe/sociedad/junin/junin-persiste-busqueda-familia-desaparecida-huaico-noticia-1973207?ref=flujo_tags_514101&ft=nota_35&e=titulo

Videos: http://elcomercio.pe/mundo/actualidad/huaicos-peru-videos-que-han-dado-vuelta-al-mundo-noticia-1976765?ref=flujo_tags_514101&ft=nota_7&e=titulo

[bigyack-com]

Can You Become Immune to the Coronavirus?

As the number of people infected with the coronavirus surpasses 450,000 worldwide, and more than one billion are locked in their homes, scientists are wrestling with one of the most pressing questions of the pandemic: Do people who survive the infection become immune to the virus?The answer is a qualified yes, with some significant unknowns. That’s important for several reasons.People who are confirmed to be immune could venture from their homes and help shore up the work force until a vaccine becomes available, for example. In particular, health care workers who are known to be immune could continue to care for the severely ill.Growing immunity in the community also is the way the epidemic ends: With fewer and fewer people to infect, the coronavirus will lose its toehold and even the most vulnerable citizens become more insulated from the threat.Immunity may also bring an early treatment. Antibodies gathered from the bodies of those who have recovered may be used to aid those struggling with the illness caused by the coronavirus, called Covid-19.On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of plasma from recovered patients to treat some severe cases. A day earlier, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that New York would become the first state to begin testing serum from people who have recovered from Covid-19 to treat those who are seriously ill.“It’s a trial for people who are in serious condition, but the New York State Department of Health has been working on this with some of New York’s best health care agencies, and we think it shows promise,” Mr. Cuomo said.The body’s first line of defense against an infectious virus is an antibody called immunoglobulin M, whose job is to stay vigilant in the body and alert the rest of the immune system to intruders like viruses and bacteria.Days into an infection, the immune system refines this antibody into a second type, called immunoglobulin G, exquisitely designed to recognize and neutralize a specific virus.The refinement may take as long as a week; both the process and the potency of the final antibodies can vary. Some people make powerful neutralizing antibodies to an infection, while others mount a milder response.The antibodies generated in response to infection with some viruses — polio or measles, for example — bestow a lifetime of immunity. But antibodies to the coronaviruses that cause the common cold persist for just one to three years — and that may be true of their new cousin as well.A study in macaques infected with the new coronavirus suggested that once infected, the monkeys produce neutralizing antibodies and resist further infection. But it is unclear how long the monkeys, or people infected with the virus, will remain immune.Still, even if antibody protection were short-lasting and people became reinfected, the second bout with the coronavirus would likely be much milder than the first, said Florian Krammer, a microbiologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.Even after the body stops producing neutralizing antibodies, a subset of immune memory cells can reactivate a response effectively, he noted.“You probably would make a good immune response before you even become symptomatic again and might really blunt the course of the disease,” Dr. Krammer said.A crucial question is whether children and adults who have only mild symptoms still generate a strong enough response to remain immune to the virus until a vaccine is available.Dr. Marion Koopmans, a virologist at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, and her team have screened antibody responses in 15 infected patients and health care workers.The researchers are also using banked blood samples from about 100 people who were known to be infected with one of four coronaviruses known to cause the common cold.If those samples show some immune response to the new coronavirus, too, Dr. Koopmans said, it might explain why some people — children, for example — have only mild symptoms. They may have antibodies to related coronaviruses that are at last somewhat effective against the new one.The quickest way to assess immunity is a blood test that looks for protective antibodies in the blood of people who have recovered. But first you have to have the test.Antibody tests are used in Singapore, China and a handful of other countries. But they are just coming to market in much of the West.Last week, Dr. Krammer and his colleagues developed one such antibody test that could be scaled up in “days to weeks,” he said.The team validated the test in blood plasma taken from three patients with Covid-19. The researchers are seeking speedy approval from the F.D.A.Dozens of other labs are also at work on a dizzying list of tests, although they, too, are mostly based on slim data that has not yet been reviewed by other scientists.“No matter who makes them, as long as they’re reliable, that’s a super nice tool,” Dr. Krammer said. Because this is a new coronavirus, the test should deliver “basically, a yes or no answer, like an H.I.V. test — you can figure out who was exposed and who wasn’t.”On Wednesday, officials of Public Health England said they had purchased millions of newly developed antibody tests and were evaluating them for patients to use at home. Citizens who discovered they had been exposed and now had some immunity to the coronavirus might be able to return to normal lives, the officials said.That would be particularly useful for health care workers. Those who know they have at least some immunity could be placed on the front lines of emergency care, sparing colleagues who have not been exposed.“If this really goes on for months at a time, for 18 months as some people have projected, having health care workers who are immune to the virus will be really, really helpful,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University in New York.But tests like these may not be of much use for diagnosis of coronavirus infection as it gets underway, because of the time it takes for the body to begin producing antibodies.Dr. Krammer’s test picks up an antibody response as early as three days after symptoms emerge. Given that people may not show symptoms for as long as 14 days after infection, however, that is too late for the test to be useful as a diagnostic tool.Finding people with powerful antibody responses might help point the way to new treatments, however. Essentially, antibodies extracted from the blood of recovered patients are injected into those who are ill.Several teams have already been working on such an effort, following early reports from China of success. A Beijing-based company called AnyGo Technology has provided 50,000 tests to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and to hospitals in Wuhan, Beijing and Shanghai, according to its founder, Dr. Le Sun.Dr. Shangen Zheng, a doctor with the Chinese military, said his team had treated more than 10 patients so far, and data from many more patients treated with plasma in Hubei Province is being assessed.This approach is actually “something very old-fashioned,” Dr. Krammer said. It was used to save American soldiers infected with the hemorrhagic Hantaan virus during the Korean War, and to treat people in Argentina infected with the hemorrhagic Junin virus.Before the method can be put into wide use, however, scientists must work out safety issues, such as ensuring that the plasma taken from recovered patients is free of other viruses and toxins.Pharmaceutical companies like Takeda and Regeneron are hoping to sidestep some of those questions by developing antibodies against the coronavirus in the laboratory.Ultimately, it is only with these tests that scientists will be able to say when enough of the population has been infected and has become immune — and when the virus has begun to run out of hosts. Read the full article

[tripstations]

Quito: when a hotel becomes the beating heart of a historic neighbourhood

Ecuador’s proud capital city of Quito has many attractions; its unforgettable backdrop of Andean peaks and misty volcanoes, its beautifully preserved historic centre with elaborate churches and cobbled squares – not to mention the opportunity to travel a little further out of town for the experience of standing with one foot on either side of the equator!  However, Quito can often be overlooked by travellers not fully aware of how much the city has to offer. Often travellers choose to spend just one night in the city as a hop-off point for visiting the Galapagos Islands. The owners of Illa Experience Hotel felt this was a great shame and wanted to make the difference. It was their passion for the city and their desire for visitors to spend longer there, interacting with its people and cultural traditions. That’s how they got inspired to open the hotel. Also a long-standing love affair with a very special community was the motivation to choose the place.

Despite being barely two blocks from Quito’s main square with its hustle and bustle, the historic neighbourhood of San Marcos gives the feeling of stepping into another world – a traditional community where children still play ball games on the street, artisans showcase their works in open workshops and small galleries, and long-standing residents of the community gather in the small square after Sunday mass to catch up on local politics. Visiting this community regularly with their children and attending church weekly there first sowed the seed in the minds of the owners of opening a small hotel in that place. One thing was clear from the very outset – that the hotel needed to have a positive impact on San Marcos, and the community had to be involved from the very start.

Direct permission was sought from the residents of San Marcos themselves before the hotel project had even begun, long before the more official business of local authority approvals and paperwork had to run its lengthy course. But the community engagement at the Illa Experience Hotel did not just end when the hotel finally opened its doors in December 2017. Though offering all the comforts and amenities that travellers would expect of a 5-star hotel, choosing to name this an ‘experience hotel’ belies just a little of the very special interaction guests can expect here.

Illa’s Experiences

Experiences are on offer throughout a stay at Illa, focusing around a complimentary cultural activity on offer to guests each afternoon. But whether this is ice cream making, traditional wooden toy making or water colour painting of the city skyline, the difference with the experiences on offer at here is that they are drawn right from the heart of San Marcos itself – quite literally the hotel’s neighbours! They are proud to share these experiences with guests, getting the opportunity to demonstrate traditions and crafts that have in many cases been passed down through families across generations.

Illa’s focus on experiences is the reflection of a deep interest on offering visitors much more than a regular trip to a foreign land. For Illa it is essential that guests become family members and that travellers have the possibility to experience a culture from the inside, that people become part of traditions so they can understand a place from a deeper perspective, not just from the most superficial characteristics which in many occasions contribute to destroy real meanings. Illa carefully chooses the best ways to put together authenticity from hard working locals with curiosity from adventurous visitors. Experiences have the power of not just presenting a final product, but also to value its process and the human side of it. Every artisan collaborating with Illa has a story behind their craft. Experiences are about taking a step further to offer better value.

San Marcos

The neighborhood seems to present the perfect picture that can transport its visitors to older times when the city was much smaller and traditional too. Its main street is called Junin, a long and quiet street where lifelong neighbors greet each other cordially, just as their families have for generations. Most of the buildings’ architectural features are very interesting and worth to take some minutes to appreciate their details.  Many houses have been restored to their neoclassical design with facades painted in elegant blues, greens, yellows and reds.

  Magnificent wooden, carved doors invite you into the several restaurants, museums and shops that dot Junin St., including the Muñoz Mariño Museum of Watercolors and Drawings (Muñoz Mariño Museo de Acuarela y Dibujo). This museum was begun by the famed Ecuadorian watercolorists and architect – Oswaldo Muñoz Mariño – who once lived in this building. One of the neighborhood’s first structures, the museum displays Mariño’s huge body of work that spans several decades from the 1950s to just before the artist died in 2016 and whose subjects depict the buildings and landscapes of the over 70 countries Mariño visited during his lifetime. One can take painting classes there, and enjoy a beer and delicious Ecuadorian dishes at the museum’s restaurant.

Taking a walk can be a relaxing experience to feel the real essence of the Old Town, to dream about the past and to appreciate those details that make of Quito a city full of stories and hidden gems preserved by centuries.

Details that mark the difference

San Marcos has a growing number of elegant, intimate hotels, including the Illa Experience Hotel. Although the building went through a restoration, the most important features were preserved and many brought back to life. Most of the elements have a story behind and it is worthy paying attention around.

The hotel is distributed in three stories, each of them reflects the different eras of the neighborhood – colonial, independence and contemporary. The exquisite decoration goes accordingly and each room is unique. As with many houses at Quito’s old town the facade might not tell you much about what you will find inside. It is like unfolding a box to present unique spaces and unexpected views. Heading to the terrace unveils an astonishing view of some of the mountains surrounding Quito and the most iconic landmark, the statue of El Panecillo. The terrace is one of the spaces that visitors can enjoy at any time just to get delighted with the view or even better the perfect place to have a meal in front of one of the most amazing views of the city. Look up to the room´s ceilings, the throw blankets, illumination, the doors. Nothing has been left to faith.

A features description is not enough to express the offer at Illa. The material beauty that displays is just a part of other immaterial characteristics responsible to shape Illa’s identity. What is special about Illa is that this place not only offers the highest quality of services, it goes further and offers authenticity in a participative way. Illa cares about offering the best standards by working as part of a wide context. The quality of this hotel is not just reflected on a picture or a video, but as part of life and memories.

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[weownthenitenyc]

Total Eclipse To Be Celebrated in the province of Neuquen, Argentina

For the tens of thousands of eclipse chasers, adventurers and dreamers that attended the 2017 Oregon Eclipse, and the millions more that stood under the path, the 2017 total eclipse is an experience that continues to burn brightly in the memory. Twelve global production communities, led by Symbiosis Gathering, came together, to create over 40 different environments of art, music, workshops, performance, and water slides, and thusly Global Eclipse was born.

Tickets are on sale now for the next chapter entitled ‘Patagonia Gathering’ to celebrate a total solar eclipse in Dec of 2020 at an incredible location in Argentina. The Patagonia Gathering invites authentic seekers of awe, truth, and beauty to gather at a remote site to witness the most spectacular phenomena on earth: a Total Solar Eclipse.

To create the container for this experience, producers will again gather the assistance of an international team of creators, builders, and go getters, integrating their unique skills into a global production team, and creating an experience far greater than the sum of its parts.

After a wide ranging search talking with local governors and seeking guidance from local indigenous leaders a home was found in the province of Neuquen, Argentina at a beautiful site with wide open skies, lush vegetation, and a pristine river that will be perfect for a cosmic celebration!

Patagonia Gathering 2020

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The gathering site is an easily accessible 150 hectares with over 5km of Catan Lil River frontage, flat camping, and an epic climate of warm days and cool nights encircled by beautiful landscapes of mountain ranges, rock outcroppings, and rolling hills.

The producers of the Global Eclipse were at the site last month visiting the site and forging relationships with local officials and indigenous representatives. They’ve decided, to paraphrase Junin de los Andes Mayor Carlos Corazini, “to go with strength.’

Global Eclipse will also produce the Regeneration Summit in December of 2019, which will commence after a full Permaculture Design Course, an immersive Natural Building workshop and an Herbalism Symposium at Estancia Los Corrales in the Neuquen province of Argentina. This event is geared to help design and prepare the land to receive tens of thousands of people in December 2020.

Patagonia Gathering 2020: Total Eclipse To Be Celebrated in the province of Neuquen, Argentina Total Eclipse To Be Celebrated in the province of Neuquen, Argentina For the tens of thousands of eclipse chasers, adventurers and dreamers that attended the 2017…

[cleopatrarps]

Satellite tech offers near real-time view of deforestation:…

LIMA (Reuters) – In 2015, satellite images detected a fresh clearing of rainforest in an indigenous reserve deep in the Amazon.

Water falls at the Trasandino tunnel of Peruvian state water company Sedapal, is seen in Junin, Peru, August 17, 2017. Picture taken August 17, 2017. REUTERS/Guadalupe Pardo

Within months, authorities in Peru had evicted the wildcat miners driving the deforestation, a rare victory in a region where a gold rush has laid waste to large swaths of pristine forest.

The rapid response was possible thanks to better use of satellite technology that now allows deforestation to be tracked in near real-time, giving governments “unprecedented” opportunities to take action, said Matt Finer, the lead author of a paper on the trend in the latest issue of Science.

A oil palm plantation deforestation is seen from a satellite image in the northern Amazon region of San Martin, Peru. This is an undated handout photo provided by Matt Finer, obtained by Reuters June 21, 2018. Handout via REUTERS

Instead of years passing before learning about a new deforestation hotspot, authorities can track it in weeks or months, said Finer.

“Most tropical countries now cannot say, ‘well we didn’t have the information, or we didn’t have the information on time’,” said Finer, a research specialist at the organization Amazon Conservation, which spotted the 2015 clearing in Peru’s Amarakaeri Communal Reserve.

Satellites have gradually been capturing more frequent images of the world’s tropical forests with greater detail. In recent years, researchers at the University of Maryland developed an automated early-warning system to notify authorities of likely forest loss, said Finer.

Algorithms can further filter the data by pointing to particularly troublesome patterns, such as the loss of green forest cover inside protected reserves or lines suggesting new roads have been cut through primary rainforest, said Finer.

A road is seen from a satellite image in the northern Amazon region of Loreto, Peru. This is an undated handout photo provided by Matt Finer, obtained by Reuters June 21, 2018. Handout via REUTERS

Daniel Castillo, the head of a team in Peru’s environment ministry that uses the technology, said finding out about deforestation early on can keep it from spinning out of control. He pointed to the expansion of illegal gold mining in southern Peru that is now a key driver of the region’s economy.

“It’s now much more complicated to control,” said Castillo. “If we can identify it early, and take corresponding actions, it can be controlled.”

The so-called GLAD (Global Land Analysis & Discovery) alerts developed at the University of Maryland now cover more than 20 countries with tropical forest, Finer said.

Peru and Brazil have also developed their own early-warning deforestation systems tailored to their needs, Finer added.

Castillo said his team analyzes deforestation alerts based on Landsat images taken every 8-10 days, and passes worrisome trends on to authorities in other ministries.

“We have all the tools to be able tell when this kind of phenomena occurs, we only really need effective action,” Castillo said.

Reporting By Mitra Taj and Reuters TV; Editing by Marguerita Choy

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